Recruiting: Berkshire defender Joey Belenardo commits to South Carolina

Berkshire defender Joey Belenardo sends the ball downfield during a game. (Photo by Tammy Wysocki)

Berkshire senior Joey Belenardo had been mainly considering college soccer programs in the northeast.

As a kid who grew up in Avon, Conn., and always attended school in New England, those were the programs he was most familiar with. He could always lean on advice from friends who played for those teams.

Then, the University of South Carolina expressed interest in the outside back.

"When they first reached out, I knew nothing about it," said Belenardo. "Things moved really fast with them. They want to bring in a really big 2022 class, so they actually brought me in for a visit two weeks after first contacting me. As soon as I stepped foot on campus, my official visit was out of this world. I fell in love with the staff, and the players, and the team, and the facilities.